The Wizarding World of Doctor Who
by Castlenox5
Summary: The Doctor and Clara find themselves redirected by the TARDIS to a strange and unexpected destination. This is the first chapter of a story that finds the Doctor and Clara in a hidden world on Earth where magic and strange creatures are real and anything can happen. They are being followed, though, and need to find out where they are and why they're there before it's too late.
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1**

The wheezing of the TARDIS faded and Clara threw open to the door to find… a brick wall.

"Well, that's a bit of a let-down," she sighed.

The Doctor leaned around the door and looked down the deserted alley before agreeing, "Yes, well. This is not at all what I expected."/p

"I thought we were going to the great crystal falls of Veena."

"Right. Well, I must have miscalculated," puzzled the Doctor. He shrugged his shoulders, sighed, then said, "Well let's not just stand here. Let's take a look around!"

He swung around the door into the alley while Clara followed right behind him, shutting the door to the TARDIS with a snap of her fingers. They both walked down the alley toward what looked like the main street with a spring in their steps. At least, they assumed that was the direction of the main street because it was where they saw light.

As the exited the alley, they found themselves in a bustling street filled with the strangest shops and the oddest people. The shops were filled with books, owls, and brooms. There were robe shops and even one store that appeared to sell wands. Since 382 BC!

Men, women, and children strode down the street wearing brightly colored robes and strange hats. Some wore normal clothes, but not quite normal. One man was wearing a pair of green trout-fishing waders, a black fur coat, and a bright red top hat!

"Now that's something you don't see every day," Clara observed, wide-eyed, as the man sauntered past. "Where are we?"

The Doctor simply looked around him, concentrating hard, and muttered, "I honestly have no idea, but something about it seems familiar." The Doctor broke out of his momentary daze. "So which way do we go?"

Clara shrugged and pointed to the left, "Let's go that way."

"One way's as good as another. Why not?"

They set off in the direction Clara pointed, looking for any clues that might tell them where they were. The Doctor was not used to not knowing where he was, so he was a bit put off.

They passed a crooked sign pointing down a dark alley that read "Knockturn Alley." It didn't seem like the kind of place they wanted to explore, so they kept walking.

"Doctor," Clara began. "Why would the TARDIS have brought us here?"

The Doctor gazed intently at his surroundings as he explained," The TARDIS sometimes has a mind of its own. She usually takes me where I want to go. Sometimes, though, she takes me where I need to go."

"So there must be some reason you are needed here."

"Indeed there must," murmured the Doctor as he continued slowly walking down the street. "And I think that is where we need to go to find out."

The Doctor pointed down to the end of the street where there was a gleaming white building that was three stories tall and, strangely, crooked. It had enormous white pillars and beautiful bronze doors. Standing in front of the door was a short, twisted creature wearing a brightly colored uniform of scarlet and gold.

"What is that?" Clara asked.

"Well, unless I'm wrong, that, Clara, is a goblin," the Doctor explained.

Clara guffawed. "There's no such thing as goblins."

The Doctor stopped and looked at Clara. "Obviously, there are."

"Could this be some type of hallucination or animatronics?"

"It could be," the Doctor responded as he took out his sonic screwdriver and took some readings, "but I don't think it is. The sonic says it is all real. Interesting…"

"So why do you think that is where we need to go?" Clara asked.

"Because it's the biggest building on the street," the Doctor explained. "When all else fails, find the biggest building. Besides, I want to get off this street."

"Why's that?"

"Because," said the Doctor as he looked up at the roofs around him. "We're being followed."


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

They walked toward the building and read the inscription carved into the white stone above the door: GRINGOTTS BANK. As they walked up the steps, the goblin guard at the door opened it for them with a nod.

"Thank you," said Clara as they walked through the first door and found themselves standing before a pair of silver doors with writing engraved upon them. Clara read, "Enter stranger, but take heed of what awaits the sin of greed. For those who take, but do not earn, must pay most dearly in their turn. So if you seek beneath our floors a treasure that was never yours. Thief, you have been warned, beware, of finding more than treasure there."

"Well, I'll have to keep that in mind," the Doctor said as another pair of goblins opened the door and they walked through.

What they saw was beyond anything they could have imagined. They were at the head of a very long aisle surrounded on each side by very tall desks, each with a goblin sitting at it. Some were counting stacks of gold, some were weighing precious stones, and some were helping customers in bright robes.

There was a desk to their left that had a sign that read "Information" on it. The Doctor confidently strode up to it with Clara trailing behind him, holding his psychic paper in front of him.

"I need to speak to whomever is in charge here," he commanded.

The goblin at the information desk looked up at him, shrewdly inspected the card, then looked back at the Doctor.

"Another Ministry inspection, eh?" he muttered as he looked behind the Doctor at Clara. "Please wait one moment."

The goblin stood up from his desk and walked through a door behind him. While he was gone, Clara looked at the Doctor.

"This looks like London, but no London I've ever seen," she said. "Is this London sometime in the past?"

"Yes, well, not exactly. The readings I took in the TARDIS said we were pretty much right in the middle of London the same day we left," explained the Doctor. "I have to be honest, though. This is no London I've ever seen, either."

Clara's eyes widened in mock surprise as she teased, "The Doctor doesn't know what's going on? I am aghast!"

The Doctor looked around distractedly, "Well, I'm not particularly fond of it myself." The Doctor stopped looking around and looked directly at Clara. "I'm not used to not knowing what's going on. But there is something about this place that seems familiar. I just can't put my finger on it."

As the Doctor was speaking, the door that the goblin had gone through opened again and the goblin walked through with an even more gruesome looking goblin who must have been the manager.

The manager inspected the two outsiders and croaked, "I am Granok, the manager of Gringott's. How may I help you?"

The Doctor held out his psychic paper and responded, "I am the Doctor and this is my associate, Clara. We have been alerted to a security concern and have been sent to review your security protocols."

Granok's eyes narrowed suspiciously and his face grew even more sour. "Psychic paper, eh?" he sighed. "Well, we've been expecting you. Follow me."

He turned and went back through the door with the Doctor and Clara following with blank looks on their faces. He led them into an enormous, windowless office with a large mahogany desk. The desk was covered with papers, coins, and jewels and there was another door at the back of the room. The walls were lined with shelves that were stocked with books, scales, measuring devices, and various other tools. Granok pointed them toward two plush, leather chairs sitting in front of the desk.

As the Doctor and Clara sank into the chairs, Granok turned to them.

"Now would you mind telling me who you really are and why you're here?"

The Doctor looked at Clara and shrugged.

"Well, like I said," said the Doctor, "I'm the Doctor…"

"I know who you are, Doctor," Granok interrupted. "What I don't know is how you found us and why you are here."

"Well, why shouldn't I be here?" the Doctor retorted incredulously.

At that moment, the other door to the office swung open and a tall, wiry man with a long grey beard walked into the office. He was wearing an emerald green robe with jeweled accents on it. He had very intelligent eyes that seemed to penetrate the Doctor and Clara as he appraised them.

"You shouldn't be here, Doctor, because you weren't supposed to be able to find us," the new entrant explained.

"But here I am," quipped the Doctor. "So perhaps it would be best to tell me where I am and why I should not have been able to find you."

The man considered the two of them for a moment before turning to Granok. Granok simply shrugged.

"I, good Doctor, am Wilson Upshot. And I am a wizard," explained Upshot. "You are currently sitting in Gringott's, the wizard's bank in Diagon Alley."

"And where is Diagon Alley?" asked Clara.

"Why, it is in the middle of London, Miss Oswald."

Clara started, "How do you know my name?"

"You still haven't explained why I should not have been able to find you. Perhaps you could illuminate us?" pressed the Doctor before Upshot could answer.

Upshot sighed deeply before proceeding. "You weren't supposed to find us, Doctor, because we are supposed to be hidden. Yes, even from a Time Lord and even from a TARDIS."

Clara spun in her seat toward the Doctor with a look of shock on her face. The Doctor, however, remained calm and cool.

"So you know about the TARDIS and you know that I'm a Time Lord?" he asked.

"But of course, Doctor," Upshot said with a smile. "After all, so am I."


	3. Chapter 3

"Well, that was unexpected," said Clara matter-of-factly.

The Doctor slowly turned toward Clara and shook his head in exasperation. He then turned back toward Upshot.

"If you're a Time Lord, then why don't I recognize you?" he asked skeptically.

"Well, you don't look the same as the last time I saw you, either," Upshot smiled. "But I can understand your skepticism. Maybe it would be best if I started from the beginning. It might help if we took a walk."

Upshot extended his arm toward the door in a clear invitation and said, "After you."

The Doctor and Clara both stood up and walked to the door, followed by Upshot. They all passed through the door together into the sprawling space that was the interior of Gringott's. They walked through the lobby and out through the massive doors into the bustling street outside.

"I must say," began Upshot "that there has been much debate amongst the high council about what to do with you."

The Doctor stopped cold and leaned against the nearest wall. "There are more of you?"

Clara looked at the Doctor in concern, then turned to Upshot. "You'd better not be playing around," she warned Upshot. "If this is some sort of sadistic joke…"

"I assure you, it is not," responded Upshot. "As I was saying, when you froze us in a moment of time, a brilliant idea, if you ask me, Galifrey disappeared and the Daleks mostly destroyed each other."

"Mostly?" asked Clara.

"Of course mostly," interjected the Doctor. "If they had all been destroyed, we wouldn't have seen any since. I'm just wondering what happened to Galifrey and why there are Time Lords here on Earth."

"Both excellent questions, Doctor," answered Upshot. "I suppose I should begin with your first question. As for where Galifrey is, you are standing on it."

"What?!" exclaimed the Doctor as Clara gasped. "Impossible."

"I assure you, it is not," answered Upshot. "Perhaps we should sit down somewhere quiet where we can have a drink and I can explain further."

The Doctor held out his arm to Clara who took it and walked down the street beside Upshot. They walked all the way down the street until they reached a brick wall. Upshot took out a stick… or was it a wand? He tapped a series of bricks on the wall and a large archway opened into the backroom of what looked like a pub.

The Doctor had recovered himself by now and took his arm out of Clara's grip. They walked through the pub to a staircase against one of the walls. They ascended the stairs to find what looked like a hallway of rooms at an inn. At the end of the hallway was an ornate wooden door with a brass handle. They walked down the hallway and passed through the door into a plush office.

"Have a seat," offered Upshot.

"I think I'll stand," retorted the Doctor.

Upshot gave him a considered look, then shrugged. "As you wish."

"So you are saying I am currently on Galifrey. But how is that possible?"

"When you froze Galifrey, we disappeared from that spot in space, but reappeared in another. Here," explained Upshot.

"Reappeared here?" queried Clara. "Then why don't us humans know about this? You would think we would have noticed if a whole other planet just appeared here."

Upshot raised his eyebrows. "My dear Clara, you don't know this because you are not humans. You are, in fact, Galifreyans.

"I know that you are aware of the Chameleon Arch. A Galifreyan technology that enables a Time Lord to store his consciousness in an object, usually a watch. Something unexpected happened when Galifrey disappeared and became Earth. You created a massive Chameleon Arch that holds the consciousness of all Galifreyans. They now believe themselves to be humans, a completely manufactured identity, and have forgotten their Galifreyan selves."

The Doctor stood up, considering what Upshot was saying. He walked across the room to the window and looked out upon London.

He suddenly spun around and looked piercingly at Upshot. "If that is true, where is the Chameleon Arch located? It would have be rather large. About the size of…"

The Doctor stopped suddenly as a look of realization dawned across his face. He turned back to the window and looked out again. "No," he said. "No, it can't be. But I can see it now!"

When he turned back to Clara, he had a wily smile on his face.

"What is it, Doctor?" asked Clara.

"I am such an idiot," he laughed. "The most brilliant idiot in the history of the world! Do you want to know where the Chameleon Arch is?"

Upshot had a smile on his face as Clara stood rooted to the spot, confused.

"Come here," said the Doctor as he waved Clara over. She cautiously walked toward the Doctor and he put his hands on her shoulders, looking straight into her eyes. "Oh Clara, it is so simple, I can't believe I didn't see it before!"

"See what, Doctor?" she asked.

"I mean, it has been sitting right there the whole time and I never saw it… Of course, I wouldn't have. That's kind of the point. Oh, I am such an idiot."

"So now you see, Doctor," smiled Upshot.

"I do!" exclaimed the Doctor. He then turned to Clara. "Do you want to know where the Chameleon Arch is, Clara?"

"Of course," she responded.

He turned toward the window again and extended his arm toward the cityscape beyond. As Clara looked, she could only see dirty buildings across the street and some of London's taller landmarks beyond.

"What am I looking at?"

"The largest Chameleon Arch ever, Clara." explained the Doctor. "Or maybe I should say, the biggest."

Clara looked out the window again, then turned suddenly to the Doctor.

"No!"

"Oh yes, Clara," said the Doctor. "The largest Chameleon Arch ever created is sitting on the shores of the Thames. Right in front of our faces the whole time. The Chameleon Arch is actually Big Ben!"


End file.
